Sweet, Sweet Child
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Gin was always leaving Ran behind, but then... she wasn't the only one that he cared about that he did this to.


_Disclaimer – I do not own Bleach._

**Sweet, Sweet Child**

Two pale, teal eyes took in the beauty of the moon, letting it help relax his body. The first snow of the year had begun to fall, softly and delicately. The flakes stuck to his silverfish eyelashes, as he held a small bundle close to his chest. His lips were open in a wide smile, and there seemed to be nothing bothering him at all.

He leaned up against the wall of the building, thinking over a few times what he had planned to do. To him, it was the best thing to do, as there were certain things that would possibly happen if he didn't do what he had planned. Sure, in the long run, feelings would be hurt, but if he pulled it off, it would likely only be him who got the worst hurt because of this.

Suddenly the bundle moved in his arms, and he felt a small hand reach out to grab the bony thumb that had been holding the swaddling closed. This caused his grin to widen slightly. "You've got a bit of life in yah, don't ya little one."

No noise greeted him, and he returned to looking at the moon, his smile suddenly leaving. "I was rather lucky that you are one of those babies that don't cry," the person stated as his two pale teal eyes narrowed to thin slits. "She believed me when I told her yah were miscarried. I didn't really like lying to her…"

The small hand wiggled, and he pulled the cloth away to reveal the face of a rather dirty newborn babe. "Ne… you seem to have my hair coloring… but maybe you have her eyes?" However, the babe choose to snuggle closer, to sleep away. Again, the person standing there, turned his head towards the sky.

"Gomenasai, for giving you up," there was a slight wine to the voice. "But if he finds out that you…" the pause was there and pungent. "Well, I would have to say, if you had been born a girl… or even with such a low rietsu that it couldn't be detected… well… your best chance of him not touching you, would be if he… if you were born a girl. He sees females as weak… but you should see her…"

"My personality wants to play with you… but something else makes it so I want to protect you, just like I wanna protect her," the half groan male smiled. "We really were to young… but ako… I can't say you were a mistake… it's just… leaving you where he can touch you… that is a mistake… one I can't make."

The teenaged shingami reached his bony hand and stroked the soft skin of the baby, tickling his stomach. Again, for a brief moment, his smile left, and he pulled the cloth closer. "Can't let you get cold… we really should be moving along."

The shingami moved through the first discreet, moving through the place, until he came to one that was rather familiar to him, and he peeked in, not at all sure how he would be received there. However, a woman glanced up with a smile on her face. "Hitsugaya Gin…"

"Gomenasai… Hitsugaya-san, but… I don't deserve that last name… I changed it from his… to be Ichimaru," came the soft reply.

"If you are still running from something that wasn't your fault child… then why is it that you are here," the woman stated, a deep sadness in her voice. "And don't dishonor me by not calling me mother…"

"Hai… haha," he moved forward and knelt in front of her, making a slight bow. "I wouldn't have come, if it weren't for the fact that… I need help for someone…"

"Someone?" the woman then saw the bundle in his arms, and she reached for it, and unwrapped the bundle. "Gin… ako… where is the mother?"

"His haha died in child birth…" the young shingami stated.

"And you plan on leaving him with me?" the woman sighed, setting the baby down. "You did a horrible job of cutting the cord… you left it to long, and didn't clean up the baby of the… then again, you wouldn't know… boil some of the water over there, so we can get him cleaned up…"

The silver haired youth hurried to do as she said, speaking as he did so. "I would be a horrible father, wouldn't I? The only thing that I can do of worth for him is to make sure that you both have enough money to live by…"

"By stealing it?" the woman shook her head.

"I am a third seat shingami…" came his reply, as he watched the water.

"He's opening his eyes… come here… they are so beautiful…" the woman murmured, a bit of glee coming to her voice, even though the situation was hard.

"Does he have Ran-chan's eyes…" Gin stated hopefully, only to find that the babe had a darker version of his father's eyes, and he backed away, rather reluctant.

"Usually when the mother dies, the father hopes that the child looks more like them," his mother sighed.

"I bet father and you were glad that I didn't look like either of you…" the boy stated, bringing the thing of water so that she could dip a cloth in, and cut the cord shorter.

"Child, that isn't so…" the woman sighed. "Gin… I know that you are hiding something from me, perhaps a lot, but I won't ask what it is. But are you sure you don't want to be a part of this babe's life?"

"It's not that I don't want to… but there are problems that make this not possible…" the young man sighed. He watched as she cleaned the body. "Do you need me to get some milk, or do you need me to leave some money for it?"

"Ehh… so he also has rietsu?" the woman smiled. "I have a little money from odd jobs, so I'll be fine for awhile. He is a beautiful child… what will you name him?"

"I…" Gin backed away, one of his sad looks on his face. "I had better be leaving now…" He got up, and could feel two sad eyes looking straight at him. There would be two more sad eyes looking at him, when he lied to someone else, when she was really there, and not exhausted from childbirth.

_Author's note – Well, it is actually possible that he is Ran and Gin's child. He has a nice mixture of their looks, and tends to show more tendency to take after Gin though. Toshiro only thinks he died on a plain of ice, he really doesn't know for sure. Also, they are old enough to be his parents, as if one looks at growth charts, Toshiro is currently, between a seven to twelve year old in age. Therefore, it would fall into that particular time frame._


End file.
